Local farmers, gardeners dealing with lack of rain

Farmers and gardeners all over the Mohawk Valley have been hoping for rain.

At Saturday’s farmers’ market in Little Falls the dry weather was the topic of discussion and the main factor in determining what the farmers and gardeners could sell.

By Nichole Grant

The Times

By Nichole Grant

Posted Jul. 23, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jul 23, 2012 at 11:23 PM

By Nichole Grant

Posted Jul. 23, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jul 23, 2012 at 11:23 PM

Little Falls, N.Y.

Farmers and gardeners all over the Mohawk Valley have been hoping for rain.

At Saturday’s farmers’ market in Little Falls the dry weather was the topic of discussion and the main factor in determining what the farmers and gardeners could sell.

Due to the drought many said they are working twice as hard to keep their crops alive.

“We’ve been watering our produce for the entire month,” said Helen Guardi, of Guardi’s.

Guardi said due to the lack of rain she has had to cut down on the amount of crops that are normally produced on the four-acre farm off State Route 20 in Richfield Springs.

One crop that has done well for Guardi this summer is garlic.

“The garlic did well because we had a mild winter,” she said.

Karen Bouchard, of Bouchard Farms in Little Falls, said the dry weather has helped her garlic and hot pepper crop. “The dryer the climate, the spicier the garlic and hot peppers become,” she said. “We have 20,000 garlic bulbs planted and with the dry weather our fall garlic sales should be good.”

Although Bouchard has a few crops that are doing well, there are others that are not.

“We raise cattle and it’s really tough to keep them fed because the fields are drying up,” she said.

“I don’t think the weather has impacted the farmers yet, but if it stays the way it has there will be a major impact,” said David Vickers, owner of Kristen’s Cafe in Little Falls. “I’m afraid the drought is going to have an effect food prices, and if they go up we’re in trouble.”

“The weather is causing crops to dry out, and people are starting to lose their crops and many can not water their crops,” said John Palmateer, owner of Uncle John’s and a garden in Samonsville.

Amos Lapps, of Lapps Produce, said the dry weather is hurting the corn crop.

“If it stays as dry as it is, food prices are going to raise by late summer, early fall,” he said.

The Little Falls Farmer’s Market is in the M&T Bank parking lot on Albany Street and will run until the last Saturday in October.